Who is the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition?

Our mission is to reverse the trend of mass incarceration in Colorado. We are a coalition of nearly 7,000 individual members and over 100 faith and community organizations who have united to stop perpetual prison expansion in Colorado through policy and sentence reform.

Our chief areas of interest include drug policy reform, women in prison, racial injustice, the impact of incarceration on children and families, the problems associated with re-entry and stopping the practice of using private prisons in our state.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Westword
Today at 2 p.m., the public will be able to comment as House Bill 1284 reaches a senate committee.
It's sure to be a contentious session, since even pro-regulation advocates like Matt Brown see the latest version of the measure as regressive, and Senator Chris Romer is eager to add controversial amendments like one that bans everyone 21-and-under from dispensaries and envisions licensing fees of up to $35,000.
As for Sensible Colorado head Brian Vicente, he has assembled a medical-marijuana-industry ballot initiative that he'll withhold if the final measure is to his liking. And if not? "We're ready to hit the ground and gather signatures as needed," he says. Vicente feels lawmakers "went over the top with discriminating against people with prior criminal records and preventing them from taking part in this new health-care field. It's my understanding that you're ineligible if you had any drug felony, including possession, ever, and that's just wildly overly prejudicial. You could have someone who was growing a single marijuana plant back in the '70s to help someone deal with cancer -- and if they were convicted, they wouldn't be eligible to engage in this industry thirty years later. I think they've gone way too far in that provision, and they're not reflective of societal norms.
"Today, we have medical marijuana laws in place and taken many activities that used to be crimes and completely legitimized them. And now we're saying that people who were using marijuana medically fifteen years ago or more are forever ineligible to take part in this program?"
In addition, the rejiggered bill gives municipalities the right to ban dispensaries. "That's a really difficult sticking point for Sensible Colorado," Vicente says. "Banning dispensaries is the equivalent of banning pharmacies in Colorado. I think patients should have convenient access to medicine and not have to take a bus out of town to get their doctor-sanctioned medicine."
One way cities can ban dispensaries is to put the question on the ballot -- something Vicente might be able to accept. But he's distressed at the prospect that "a city council can ban dispensaries, like Aurora has. You've got overly conservative council members there who are voting to discriminate against the minority, which is poor, sick patients -- and they shouldn't have the power to deny these individuals access to health care without a full vote of the people in that community."
Of course, these aspects of the bill can still be removed. Should they remain, Vicente is prepared to formally launch his initiative.
"We're seeing more restrictions being pushed by some legislators and, frankly, by the governor's office -- and their chief concern doesn't seem to be looking out for patients. I think they're coming more from a law-enforcement standpoint.
"That's one of the reasons why we're closely watching this legislation move forward and reserving the right to go to the people."